Several parents are questioning how their children were allowed to drink water at Summit Elementary School for months after testing last year showed higher levels of lead than are allowed.
Butler Area School Board President Nina Teff said it was a failure in communication and management.
“Our licensed water operator appears to have misunderstood the instructions from the Department of Environmental Protection and he mistakenly believed that we had been cleared to use the water back in September,” Teff said during a school board meeting Monday night. “Basically, there was a failure in the district’s management system allowing this type of regulatory compliance to fall through the cracks.”
It was back in August when 80 percent of the samples taken of the school’s well water tested above the allowable lead levels. In a second test, 100 percent of samples were above.
For two days, the kids were given bottled water, but then the water was believed to be safe and the kids began drinking it again.
A maintenance supervisor, who acted as the district’s water operator, misunderstood the Department of Environmental Protection and thought the water was safe. That person has been put on leave.
Written By: Kayla Molczan & Ryan Saeler for the Butler Radio Network
Photo Credit: Butler Area School District
